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ASAI uphold complaints against Myhome.ie
Wednesday, April 18 2001
by Rory Kelleher


The advertising standards authority of Ireland (ASAI) has upheld a complaint by
Ascotfirst.com against Myhome.ie that the company was falsely advertising.



Property Web site Myhome.ie had claimed in advertising surrounding its launch
that it had the largest number of Irish properties on its site of any Irish
property site.

Ascotfirst.com then lodged a complaint with the ASAI on the grounds that the
claims, made in ads in national newspapers and on radio and television were
untrue and without foundation. The authority upheld the complaint. 

Andy Scott, chief executive of Ascotfirst said that inaccurate and
unsubstantiated claims made by Myhome.ie are damaging to the credibility of the
Internet industry. 

"They damage our credibility with the public in general and with estate agents
who we are encouraging to use the Internet as part of their marketing
activities," he said. 

 "We are glad that the ASAI has supported our view and upheld our complaint
in relation to Myhome.ie," Scott said.

"We are a bit amazed at the decision and disappointed that the authority did
not independently verify the number of properties on each site," said Tony
Sutton marketing director of Myhome.ie. "I see this as a gimic by Ascotfirst to
get a bit of publicity," said Sutton

The complaint was upheld on three grounds under the code for advertising
standards. The grounds listed by the ASAI were that "advertising should not
mislead by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration or omission," that "comparisons
should be fair and should be designed that there is no likelihood of the consumer
being mislead." The authority added, "A claim that any product is superior to
others should only be made where there is clear evidence to support the claim."

Ascotfirst said that when defending the advertisements, which were the subject of
the complaint, Myhome.ie sought to claim that their site has more residential
properties than any other Irish Web site. 

In reaching their decision the Advertising Standards Authority refused to accept
this argument.

Ascotfirst.com said it continued to reject this claim by Myhome.ie as there is
clear evidence that there are more residential sites listed on Ascotfirst.com
than on Myhome.ie.

 "We urge people, who are interested in deciding for themselves the merits or
otherwise of our argument, or the scale of properties that we have on view, to
visit our site," said Scott.